Sahashi Aki
Aki Sahashi is the main protagonist of BONDS. She is a first year student at the Variety Mind Academy's high school division. She is a quiet and introverted 15 year old girl with dissociative identity disorder (DID) and social anxiety disorder who prefers to interact with people she trusts and is close to and does not like crowds. She decides to become a net idol to attract members for the new music club and she also decides to advocate for mental health online on Tumblr, on the Sahashi System website she created, and YouTube. Appearance Aki has dark brown hair. While she used to have straight and unstyled hair in the outer world, she now curled the ends of it since the majority of her alters have curled ends; she has straight and unstyled hair in the inner world. She also has light brown eyes and light skin. She usually wears her school uniform or her favorite casual clothes: a white T-shirt, a sky blue skirt, white knee-length stockings, sky blue slip-ons, and a sky blue bow in her hair. Her pajamas consist of a sky blue nightgown. Her clothes and her hairstyle often change if her alters see themselves with different clothes and a different hairstyle than her. Background Aki was born and raised in Chiyoda, which is a ward in Tokyo, Japan. She lives in a house with her mother Sahashi Ai and her father Sahashi Akio. Her mother works for an organization that helps mentally ill people and her father works with people who are dealing with trauma by using art and music therapy. She is a student at the Variety Mind Academy's high school division. She was diagnosed with social anxiety at a young age. When she was 10, she was in a psychiatric hospital and holds clear memories of being there. Aki initially had a room to herself and the system for safety reasons before she, Honoka, and the rest of the system had a roommate--a girl who also had DID--called Hiko whom they befriended. Aki began seeing the woman who was and still is her therapist when she was stable enough to leave the psychiatric hospital, and was diagnosed with DID. During therapy, Aki managed to integrate Hanae, Honoka, and Brat/Kiko while having a cooperative arrangement with Haruka, Ichirou, Kasumi, and Ira; Child Aki, Ai, and Akio became dormant. However, all of the integrated alters except for Brat/Kiko became separate again and the dormant alters became active again in response to the stress and trauma during her middle school years. In addition, a new alter named Hisoka was formed when Aki was between the ages of 12 and 14, and she saw a school therapist because she was being bullied and tormented by the clique she was hanging out with in middle school. Her childhood friends are Sasaguchi Katsuko and Fukui Akira, and she considers them to be her best, close friends who are trustworthy as they were understanding towards her when she told them that she was diagnosed with DID and social anxiety; she also told them about the abuse she received from her paternal uncle and Kiko and the neglect she received from her paternal aunt as well as the abuse Kiko received from her paternal uncle and the neglect she received from her paternal aunt. She leads the new music club and is the leader of a group called Bonds. Her other hobbies are posting on Tumblr, posting on the Sahashi System website, uploading videos on YouTube, going to mental health and DID support events, listening to music, and writing songs. In middle school, she only helped out other clubs and did not join any clubs because her alters all enjoyed different things and she feared that she would lose track of things if she joined multiple clubs to please them; she did the same thing in high school, but changed her mind when she got the idea for a new music club. Currently, she is a member and leader of the music club and a leader and member of Bonds which is a school idol group. Aki is good at singing and dancing. She is especially good at playing the guitar which is her favorite instrument. Personality Aki is an introvert. She does not like crowds or loud noises and gets panic attacks when around them and when stressed; even the thought of crowds or loud noises makes her anxious. She also gets panic attacks when struggling with social interactions, especially with others she is not familiar with and is easily embarrassed. Because of this, she usually allows Hanae to deal with crowds, loud noises, and social interactions with unfamiliar people. She easily becomes exhausted when around people for a long period of time and/or stressed and she needs alone time and even self-care to recharge. She has a polite, formal way of speaking, but speaks more informally when around ones she is close to and speaks more rudely when stressed and/or angered. Aki can easily express herself through music and online. She feels that those are where she is the most confident and most free. She feels like she cannot express herself without music and/or being online. When she is alone, she and her alters talk aloud to each other. She also communicates with them using notes, texts, and reminders on an app. She is co-conscious with all of her alters and remembers everything or almost everything that they said and did, and the same goes for them; she shares all of her memories with Hanae, Haruka, Honoka, Ichirou, Kasumi, Ai, Akio, and Natsue while she shares most of her memories with Hisoka and Child Aki, and some of her memories with Ira. However, if she or one of her alters switches to another one of her alters or to her during certain situations, they will have little to no memory of what was said and/or done. She also co-fronts with her alters such as Hanae, Honoka, and Haruka, but tends to dissociate and lose time if more than two in the system try to co-front with her at the same time. She is timid and quiet. She prefers to spend time with people who she is close to and can trust. She takes friendships and other relationships very seriously and believes that trust is the most important aspect of any relationship due to being abused and neglected as a child. She does not like or trust cliques since she was bullied and betrayed by one when she was in middle school. Aki is also a responsible girl and never blames others when she or any of her alters is in the wrong. She practices system responsibility. This means that if any of her alters causes any problems, she is the one that resolves them. She is a smart and hard-working student, but often needs help with keeping track of schoolwork and staying on task when doing it since she often dissociates and loses time when she does so. Fortunately, her teachers, the Variety Mind Academy staff, and her parents are understanding and help her keep track of her schoolwork, staying on task, and keeping track of the time. Aki is optimistic and hopes that by being a net idol and a mental health activist, she hopes that people would understand her, other people like her, and others who are mentally ill. She is inspired to advocate for mental health because her parents help people with mental health issues. Aki is also kind and helpful. Relationships *'Hanae' - Co-hosts with Aki, protects her from verbal attacks, and helps her with social situations that she struggles with. Has a strong, close relationship with her. *'Haruka' - Protects Aki from physical and emotional attacks and holds traumatic memories for her. Has a strong, close relationship with her despite conflict between the two at times. *'Honoka' - Holds traumatic memories for Aki, shields her from physical and emotional attacks, and is a little in the system. Has a close relationship with her. *'Ichirou' - Protects Aki from people younger and older than her who threaten her, memory holder, and is a little in the system who plays with Aki. Has a good relationship with him even though he is mischievous and often causes trouble. *'Kasumi' - A memory holder and little in the system who plays with Aki. Has a good relationship with her even though her energy and sassiness can cause trouble. *'Other Alters' - Aki cares for Child Aki and the two have a sisterly relationship. Aki and Ira did not get along with each other at first, but they got along better over time. Aki adores Ai because she was the mother figure when her mother could not be there for her. Aki adores Akio because he was the father figure when her father could not be there for her. Aki gets along well with Hisoka and constantly reassures her that she is fine the way she is. Aki has a close relationship with Natsue as she is helpful. *'Sasaguchi Katsuko' - Childhood friend of Aki who gets along well with the whole system. They have a strong, close relationship. *'Fukui Akira' - Childhood friend of Aki who gets along well with the whole system. They have a strong, close relationship. *'Abe Mari' - Close friend of Aki who is particularly close to Ira, Honoka, Hisoka, Hanae, and Haruka. They have a close relationship. *'Ikeda Arata' - Good friend of Aki who is the closest to Hisoka. They have a good relationship. *'Music Club members' - Aki has a good relationship with each of them. *'Kageno Hiko' - Childhood friend of Aki who first met each other at the psychiatric hospital they were both admitted to. They have a close relationship and have fond memories of each other. After leaving the psychiatric hospital, they went their separate ways and were very happy to see each other again. *'Sahashi Ai' - Aki's mother. They have a very close relationship. *'Sahashi Akio' - Aki's father. They have a very close relationship. *'Aki's paternal aunt' - Aki does not consider her to be family due to how she treated her and Kiko. She hates and resents her. *'Aki's paternal uncle' - Aki does not consider him to be family due to how he treated her and Kiko. She hates and resents him. *'Sahashi Kiko' - Aki's paternal cousin who is the closest to Hisoka. Currently have a somewhat distant yet better relationship. Later on, they have a closer and even better relationship. *'Aki's paternal grandparents' - WIP *'Aki's maternal aunt' - They have a close relationship. *'Aki's maternal uncle' - They have a close relationship. *'Aki's maternal cousins' - They have a close relationship. *'Aki's maternal grandparents' - They have a close relationship. *'Aki's homeroom teacher' - Has a good relationship with her. *'Maki Ayako' - Has a very good relationship and she looks to her for inspiration and advice. Etymology Aki (明) can be translated as bright. Sahashi (佐橋) comes from sa (佐) and hashi (橋). Sa (佐) can be translated as help or aid while hashi (橋) can be translated as bridge. Quotes Appearances Aki, as protagonist of the series, appears in every episode and appears in the opening. Trivia *'Favorite Food:' Ramen noodles *'Favorite Color:' Sky blue *'Favorite Genre:' J-pop, Enka *'Favorite Animal:' Swan *'Least Favorite Food:' Spicy food *'Least Favorite Color:' Beige *'Least Favorite Genre:' Rock, metal *'Least Favorite Animal:' None *'Pronouns:' She/her/hers *Aki wants to become a musician and continue being a mental health activist when she grows up. *Her favorite subject in school is sociology. *Her Tumblr account name and YouTube account/channel name is The Sahashi System. **She shares this Tumblr account and YouTube account/channel with her alters. *She also has her own Tumblr account and its name is Aki is here. *She is the first character created by Cure Wonder and on the wiki to have DID. *She is also the first character created by Cure Wonder and on the wiki to have social anxiety. *Aki enjoys watching Disney movies. **Her favorite Disney movie is Anna and the Snow Queen which is the translation of the Japanese name for Frozen. *Her favorite song is Ari no mama de which is the Japanese name of Let it Go from Frozen. **The reason is because she identifies with the song. *Aki's favorite Enka singer is Yuki Nishio. *Her eyes become blank, her voice becomes quiet and monotone, and has a poor sense of direction when dissociating. *Aki sometimes stutters when she speaks. **Aki stutters less than Honoka and Hisoka. *Aki recovered memories of being abused and neglected as a child when with the staff at the psychiatric hospital and her childhood therapist before the start of the series while she could only remember being bullied by the clique during middle school and nothing else from middle school until episode ???. **Aki recovered the rest of her middle school memories with a school therapist, her childhood therapist, her parents, the principal, and the members of Bonds during episode(s) ???. *She was professionally diagnosed with DID twice and social anxiety twice, once with DID when she was 10 by her childhood therapist, again with DID when she was 15 by her childhood therapist, once with social anxiety when she was younger, and twice with social anxiety when she was 10 by her childhood therapist; a school therapist acknowledged her diagnoses of DID and social anxiety. **She was also diagnosed with PTSD traits (such as flashbacks and nightmares) and depressive episodes by her childhood therapist when she was 13; a school therapist acknowledged her diagnoses of PTSD traits and depressive episodes. **In addition, five of her alters were diagnosed with depression/depressive episodes (Haruka, Honoka, Child Aki, Ira, and Hisoka), PTSD (Haruka, Honoka, Child Aki, Ira, and Hisoka), social anxiety (Honoka, Child Aki, and Hisoka), night terrors (Honoka), nightmares (Honoka and Child Aki), symptoms of disruptive mood dysregulation disorder or DMDD for short (Ira), and generalized anxiety disorder or GAD for short (Hisoka) when Aki was 10 and 13 by her childhood therapist and were acknowledged by a school therapist. *Before Aki got correctly diagnosed with DID, her symptoms were thought to be attributed to her social anxiety before getting incorrectly diagnosed with mood disorder not otherwise specified (MD-NOS). *Aki used to take lithium before her parents asked her doctor to take her off of it since she was experiencing confusion, decreased memory, transient hand tremors, transient muscle weakness, transient nausea, vertigo, and hyperreflexia. **Now Aki takes prazosin and diazepam. *She uses psychotherapy/talk therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and mindfulness techniques to help with her DID, social anxiety, panic attacks, and depressive episodes. *Ramen noodles, social situations with unfamiliar people, crowds, loud noises, arguments, fights, physical/verbal/emotional attacks and threats, sociology class, stress, cliques, and anything or anyone that reminds her of the trauma she faced when she was younger or in middle school are Aki's triggers. *She refers to herself using watashi when being formal while she refers to herself using atashi when being informal. *Aki is a late bloomer. *She prefers to be called the core of the system instead of being called the original. *Aki participated in a study on children and adolescents with dissociative disorders. *She is demisexual and panromantic. *She is right-handed. *Aki is called Aki-chan by all of the littles except for Child Aki. **Child Aki calls her Aki-oneechan. Gallery Sahashi_Aki_(Outer_World).png|Aki's current look Sahashi_Aki_(Inner_World).png|Aki's former look Category:User:Cure Wonder Category:Characters Category:Idols Category:Bonds Category:Bonds Characters Category:Bonds Main Characters